JCPL: Your One Stop Shopping Place!

To be able to shop in a department store where I can find grocery items as well as household and other things I need is pretty handy indeed.

In some one stop shopping centers you can even sit down and eat or get a meal-deal to go.

On one of our recent excursions, we drove through a small town. Small towns many times have much to offer in the way of Mom and Pop shopping centers and restaurants.

On the corner of an out of the way intersection, a gas station caught my eye, not only because the price of gas there was slightly higher than local stations, but because a sign out in front boasted, “Live Bait—Breakfast Buffet.”

One stop shopping just lost its appeal.

It’s okay to “mix it up a bit,” but I wholeheartedly believe that the words “live bait” and “breakfast buffet” should never be used in the same sentence.

One place that has the best appeal for one stop shopping is your local branch of the Jasper County Public Library, and just to prove it, I’m going to “mix it up” by telling you about a few new fiction AND a few non-fiction titles. Read on!

From a California bungalow to a New York apartment, your humble abode will be a cozy castle when you redecorate using “Country Cottage Style” by M.P. Hueston. This guide will offer charmingly updated text and photographs, offering fresh twists on country style living using flea market finds and lavish photographs that will inspire you to copy and apply them to your own personal décor.

Live the independent life by growing your own food and making your own household products! Gardens, goats and chickens have their place in the suburbs, and in “Little House in the Suburbs” by Deanna Caswell, you’ll discover the joy of self-sufficiency, and you’ll feel like you have superpowers galore when you see the gardening instructions for any size yard and any skill level, canning techniques for beginners, natural cleaning recipes for kitchens, bathrooms and laundry, gift basket ideas, and much, much more, in this informative guide!

You’ll go gaga over the fabulous Lady Gaga herself when you check out “Gaga” by Johnny Morgan. This biographical account of the award winning Lady herself takes you through her history, music, videos and unique look, as well as her chameleon like nature. Full of photos of Lady Gaga from childhood to stardom, this book includes images of those who influenced her style and is a must-have for all who love this music icon.

Now, on to the mix! Great, new fiction includes “The Coward’s Tale” by Vanessa Gebbie. This novel features nine year old Laddy Merridew, sent to live with his grandmother in a small Welsh town. Befriending the town beggar, Ianto Passchendaele Jenkins, Laddy learns much about the small town’s history and the legacy of past disasters that haunt the town all the way into the present, as well as lively tales of other men and women who inhabit the small town. Ianto, however, leaves out the details of his own life, and Laddy is left to wonder about the town beggar/storyteller and how his history may have helped to shape the village that he now calls home.

The 7:44 a.m. train from Brighton to London is packed with commuters, each one busy with their own thoughts and morning routines. Suddenly, one passenger collapses, the train is stopped and an ambulance is called. In that instant, the lives of three passengers have forever been changed. “One Moment, One Morning” by Sarah Rayner reminds us that sometimes, one moment is all it takes to alter life as we know it, and that, however altered it may be, with the help of others, life does go on.

I love one stop shopping, and at your local branch of JCPL, one stop is all you need for movies, music, fiction, non-fiction, or all of the above. No live bait, though…